Sir Keir Starmer’s known to be a keen (and combative) footballer for his Sunday side but missed a succession of open goals in Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions.
Rishi Sunak was floundering in the hours preceding their weekly fixture. The Supreme Court had kicked his Rwanda plan into row Z. Suella Braverman was chanting abuse from the stands. Questions were mounting over the return to the team of former captain David Cameron.
Restive right-wingers were on manoeuvres. Former Levelling Up secretary Simon Clarke muttered darkly about Mr Sunak’s future in light of the Rwanda ruling - after slamming his Cabinet reshuffle on Monday.
“Some controversial choices here from the manager, putting it very mildly. Never wise to lack options on the right wing - the squad risks being badly unbalanced,” Mr Clarke said after Ms Braverman was given the red card as Home Secretary.
But Mr Sunak quelled some of the noise by starting PMQs with a vow to forge a new treaty with Rwanda, as a way of avoiding further embarrassment in the courts.
He swivelled onto the front foot with a jibe at Sir Keir’s uneasy past under Jeremy Corbyn, after the former leader’s car-crash interview with Piers Morgan about Hamas. (Not much unites the three men except their shared support for Arsenal.)
Lee Anderson MP sat coiled on the back benches, looking like he was itching for a fight. The combative Tory deputy chairman had refused to watch England in Euro 2020 because the players were taking the knee. This time he outraged liberal opinion by calling on Mr Sunak to simply ignore the Supreme Court.
The MP for Ashfield relaxed after the Corbyn line. It was 1-0 to Team Rishi. Or 2-0, if you count the PM declaring victory on his promise to halve inflation this year in his opening remarks.
Sir Keir was discomfited, earning further Tory jeers when he struggled to point out that Mr Corbyn has been thrown out of the Labour squad.
The opposition leader normally fares best when he or she sticks to one narrative at PMQs. There was an embarrassment of choice this time for Sir Keir, and he struggled to score with any of them.
He messed up the punchline in a laboured joke about the PM’s Silicon Valley ties. Lord Cameron’s return was likened to Mr Sunak’s policy confusion over recycling bins - that one didn’t work either.
And the PM punched at the bruise of Labour divisions over Israel’s war against Hamas, ahead of a Commons vote later Wednesday that could leading to sackings from Sir Keir’s front bench.
While Mr Sunak can often get tetchy under hostile questioning, he was getting away with it this time, and was on comfortable ground when he got the chance to point out that his beloved Southampton FC are unbeaten since late September.
On the other hand, they suffered a humiliating relegation from the Premier League last season, and Sir Keir can play it long, knowing the title isn’t decided in November.
Despite the inflation fall, Mr Sunak has still failed to "stop the boats" or deliver on other policy pledges, and all the polls are pointing to voters blowing the final whistle on Tory rule come the next election.
